Destiny
by Advent of Shadows' Archive
Summary: Thrown back in time a couple years before the start of the Third Great Shinobi War after a big mistake on his part, Naruto sets forth with a single goal: to fulfill his destiny as the Child of Prophecy. Abandoned/Up for adoption


Note: This is an abandoned fic, written by me, Advent of Shadows. If you wish to adopt it, you may do so without asking me. However, I do not want my name associated with anything that has yaoi or a harem in it. If you wish to do either one, you cannot outright adopt it. I won't say anything if you wish to do your own version of it though.

Summary: Thrown back in time a couple years before the start of the Third Great Shinobi War after a big mistake on his part, Naruto sets forth with a single goal: to fulfill his destiny as the Child of Prophecy.

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><p><strong>1. A Bad Decision<strong>

A rather large dark skinned man had his arms crossed, looking down upon the blond haired teenager before him.

'Why he wears orange, I'll never know. Never thought I'd see such bad style, even on a foe.' the man thought as he shook his head slightly. 'Not everyone can be like yours truly, unfortunately.'

"Let's stop for now. You're chakra's getting low. Besides, I'm ready for some chow." The man said as he peered through his sunglasses as the exhausted blond.

The boy- a young shinobi by the name of Naruto Uzumaki- frowned, but he did not even attempt to argue. "I guess I am a bit hungry too. Do we have anything to eat around here, Bee?"

"Sure we do. I'm sure we can find a stew." the man- now known as Killer Bee- said, earning a face palm from Naruto.

"Do you have to do that all the time?

"Sure, I do. Hmm… I suppose we don't have to have stew. Oh well, let's find something to eat, cause we're beat." Bee said as he wrote down that line in his little book.

"Let's go find Captain Yamato or Guy-sensei." Naruto said, trying to tune Bee out. "I'm sure they'll know where I can get some ramen."

"They'll be sore from the war, so leave them to rest while we have a fest." Bee said.

"War?" Naruto asked, turning to look at Bee.

"You don't know?" Bee asked thoughtfully. "Why do you think you're here?"

"No one told me about a war. What in the hell is going on?" Naruto asked, worry and anger filling his voice.

"Wow, no one told you? Then, I probably wasn't supposed to. Oh well." Bee said with a shrug.

"I'll see you later." Naruto said as he turned away from Bee.

"Sure thing. Don't get lost. Some of these guys sure can sting." Bee said, gesturing towards

'Does he have to rhyme that bad?' Naruto thought as he shook his head and began to walk towards the area of the island where Motoi was supposed to be at. Unlike Bee, it was easy to understand a conversation with Motoi.

* * *

><p>After leaving Killer Bee, Naruto headed straight for the room where he knew that Motoi was staying at. The last time that he had been there, he had done so in the hopes of convincing the man to help convince Bee to train him. His current purpose was completely different though.<p>

Surprise flashed in Motoi's eyes as he opened the door and saw Naruto standing before him. He was about to ask if he needed something when he saw traces of anger in the blond's eyes.

'What could he be angry about?' Motoi wondered.

"Why didn't you tell me there was a war going on? Why was I told that I'm doing research on the ecology of the island?" Naruto demanded as he looked Motoi in the eyes. He was not exactly happy that he had only just now learned of what had happened. "And where in the hell are Captain Yamato and Guy-sensei?"

Motoi initially looked surprised by the series of questions, but he could not maintain the look for very long. Instead, he let out a deep, heavy sigh.

Killer Bee might have been respected and viewed as a hero among heroes by the Hidden Cloud Village, but he had never been known for his ability to keep secrets well. He normally ended up revealing secrets in his rapping, even if it was unintentional.

Fortunately, most enemies tuned his rapping out since it was incredibly annoying. If they did not, then it would have been bad news for the Hidden Cloud Village.

"The wood user that goes by the name of Yamato was captured by the enemy a short while ago. The jonin by the name of Might Guy, on the other hand, went to join up with our forces to take part in the war effort." Motoi answered with a sigh. Since Killer Bee had apparently let the cat out of the bag, he had no reason to hide any more. "And the reason I didn't tell you about the war was because I was ordered not to. We are supposed to be keeping you and Bee out of the enemy's sight until the war is over. If you are captured, then all is lost. You should know that better than anyone. The jinchuriki are vital to Akatsuki's plans."

A mixture of emotions hit Naruto at that point. Anger at everyone for deceiving him and worry about Yamato's condition were at the foremost of the aforementioned emotions.

'Why am I being treated like some delicate object? I killed the guy from Akatsuki that killed Asuma-sensei… and I defeated Pain, who was strong enough to kill Hanzo of the Salamander and Pervy Sage. Hell, he even killed Kakashi-sensei.' Naruto thought angrily. 'I mean… it's obvious that they weren't trying to kill me, but it's not like they went that much easier on me.'

"I can't let you guys hide me away. I have to help." Naruto said as he took a deep breath. "I'm the only one that stands a chance at defeating Madara, especially if he's stronger than Pain." As far as he knew, there was no one in the Five Great Villages who could stand up to someone of Pain's level. No one in the Leaf Village could… Gaara was the strongest Sand ninja, and he was beaten by one of the weaker members of Akatsuki… and Naruto did not know anything about the shinobi of the other villages. He doubted that any of them were strong enough to do such a task though.

"At your current level, you cannot defeat him." Motoi said firmly. "Continue training with Bee. Once you are able to fully master the technique that Bee has been helping you with, the Five Kage might allow you to take part in the war."

In all honesty, Motoi did not truly believe that they would allow him to take part no matter what. He needed to keep the blond busy though. He would have to figure out a way to stop Naruto from trying to rush into the fray, but that it would not be easy. After all, Naruto was stubborn. That much was easy to see already.

"Fine." Naruto said in frustration. He could not understand why Motoi would not let him leave the island and join up with Kakashi and his comrades. That was where he should have been, or so he believed. He was not too far off though. It had always been his job to protect those precious to him after all.

With anger still clear on his face, Naruto spun on his heel and took a step away from Motoi.

Hearing the door shut moments later, Naruto picked up the pace, heading back to the room where Killer Bee had been training him.

As Naruto walked away from the Cloud jonin's quarters, he did not realize that everything was about to change in ways that he could not even begin to imagine.

* * *

><p>When he reached the room where he had been training with Bee earlier, Naruto did not even take notice of the fact that the rapping jinchuriki was absent. Anger had clouded his vision, among other things.<p>

Closing his eyes, Naruto reached out for the chakra of the Nine-Tails. As soon as he touched the chakra, he entered his new golden form. He doubted that he would ever completely adjust to the power that he possessed in that form.

Thinking about the power, Naruto suddenly remembered something that caused a sense of foreboding.

Mingled in with his rapping earlier, Killer Bee had said, "Your chakra's getting low."

He still remembered the warning that the Eight-Tailed Ox had given him a few days earlier in addition to that.

The gist of the warning was that using the Nine-Tails Chakra Mode was a very huge risk due to the fact that he had to temporarily "shelve" his own chakra in order to use the Nine-Tails' chakra, which allowed the Nine-Tails to automatically drain his original chakra. If the Nine-Tails managed to take all of Naruto's chakra, he would die.

'If I'm low on my original chakra, and I just shelved it, then….' Naruto thought, eyes widening in panic.

Everything began to go white as he felt the Nine-Tails steal the last of his original chakra.\ He should have died at that moment, but time seemed to slow down instead.

"You made a mistake."

Naruto looked around for the disembodied voice, but no one was in the room with him. That did not bother him as much as the fact that he should have died already but was somehow still standing.

"You made a mistake."

'It's that voice again?' Naruto thought, shaking his head.

"You made a mistake."

Realizing that it would not stop until he replied, he said, "I made a mistake."

"It's good to see you can admit as much after you're told three times."

Naruto sighed heavily.

"It's good to see-"

"You don't need to repeat yourself. I heard you the first time." Naruto said as he shook his head. "Who are you? What's going on?"

"Naruto Uzumaki, you were one of the children destined to bring peace to the world alongside the one that came to be known as Pain. Unfortunately, you both failed horribly."

"What are you talking about?"

"You are both dead, though he is currently in a resurrected state under the control of the one you call Kabuto Yakushi. Regardless, you both screwed up. You let your emotions get the better of you and allowed the tailed beast within you to steal all of your chakra while Nagato used up all of his chakra to atone for his sins. Because of your combined actions, Madara Uchiha's plans will succeed."

Naruto looked down at the floor at that point.

"Back to the question of my identity… let's just say that I am an emissary. This will be the first and last time that we ever speak. And yes, I know that you are going to ask who I serve. Don't concern yourself with such matters. The simple explanation, and the only one that I will offer you, is that no prophecy can be valid without a force to guide it. If there is no being that guides it, then it is merely a prediction."

Naruto looked confused, but he nodded his head. He kind of understood it but not really well.

"Tell me, Naruto Uzumaki. Do you want to live? Do you want to fight to protect those precious to you? Do you want to bring peace to the world? Do you want another chance?"

"Yes," Naruto answered, surprised that he spoke without even considering the answer. He knew that there was no reason to answer any other way, but he normally would have thought about it for at least a second.

"That is good to hear, Naruto Uzumaki. There are men who struggle against destiny, and yet achieve only an early grave. There are men who flee destiny, only to have it swallow them whole. And there are men who embrace destiny, and do not show their fear. These are the ones that change the world forever."

'What is _it_ trying to say?' Naruto thought. He found it a bit strange that he still could not tell what gender the voice was. It almost seemed as if the voice spoke within his mind. After all, he could not describe the voice in any manner whatsoever.

"It is not your time to die yet. You still have a destiny to fulfill. Hopefully, you will succeed this time. There will be no more chances. After all, the prophecy does state that you will either bring peace to the world… or you will bring about its downfall."

Before Naruto could respond, everything went completely white

* * *

><p><strong>2. Past is Present<strong>

As sight was restored to Naruto's eyes, he found himself kneeling in a small clearing.

Glancing around, Naruto quickly surmised that he was in a place that he had never been before.

Though the fact that he was surrounded in forest seemed familiar enough, the trees around him looked distinctively different than the trees in the Land of Fire. The heavy downpour of rain was also a key detail that did not escape him.

While it did rain in the Land of Fire, it did not that heavily.

'This isn't that island either.' Naruto quickly determined. The forest around him did not look dangerous like the forest on the island was. It looked calm and normal.

'Where in the hell am I?' he wondered.

Focusing on the memories of right before he found himself there had Naruto frowning.

'I really screwed up.' he thought with a sigh. He should have been able to control himself better. As a ninja, such self control was expected of him.

He knew that he should have focused on staying put as the Hokage wanted, but knowing that did not help by any means. He hated it when people tried to protect him.

Shaking his head away from those thoughts, Naruto's left hand quickly went to the back of his head and untied the forehead protector that he still wore.

'I'm in unfamiliar territory, my chakra is still as low as it was when I stopped training earlier, and the Nine-Tails isn't in me anymore.' Naruto thought. A maelstrom of emotions swirled in him at each thought. He was not sure how he was still alive, especially since the Nine-Tails' chakra was no longer within him.

'That… emissary… said that I'd have another chance. Let's say that it is the reason I'm still alive. Why isn't the fox still inside of me then? Don't I have the best chance of stopping Madara with it? And where in the hell is it anyways?' Naruto thought. 'All of that can just wait, I guess. I need to figure out where I am.'

At that moment, Naruto wished that he could activate Sage Mode to scope out his surroundings so that he would know where he was exactly. With such a small amount of chakra remaining, he would not be able to take in enough natural energy to enter Sage Mode for any longer than fifteen seconds or so.

Bringing the forehead protector down before him, Naruto sighed. He hated to remove it, but he had a feeling that he would be attacked on sight if he kept it on. He usually had good intuition, so he thought he'd follow it at that moment.

Placing the forehead protector in his hip pouch, Naruto rose to his feet and began to walk forward.

'I guess I'll just to wander aimlessly for a little while. I don't even know how fast my chakra will recover without the fox in me. I guess I'll have to be careful about how I use the chakra that I have until it fully recovers.' Naruto thought as he put his hands in his pockets.

Naruto had traveled for no less than three hours before he finally saw someone.

Though he was tempted to run straight to the person to ask where he was, he held off on such a notion.

As it was, Naruto was traveling along a road that he had come across about ten minutes into his journey. Roads always went somewhere, so he was sure that he would find a village or town eventually.

Running towards someone from behind was a bad idea anyways, so he figured that the person he spotted would not be inclined to help him if he scared him or her.

From the distance, Naruto was unable to tell if the person that he spotted was male or female. He could, however, tell that the person wore black clothing and had blue hair. That was the depth of what he could tell, though.

'Why in the hell is it still raining?' Naruto thought idly. It was getting incredibly aggravating. His jacket had long since ceased to be of use. The only reason that he had not taken it off was because it had been a gift from Jiraiya. He did not want to lose it.

His thoughts were soon brought to an end when he saw sudden movement up ahead.

Without realizing it, he had picked up his pace.

Upon realizing that four individual figures had jumped out from behind the trees on each side of the other traveler, Naruto's hands were already in the ram hand sign.

Aware that he would not be able to do anything with his chakra without depleting it to dangerous levels if he went through with his actions, Naruto used the Body Flicker Technique.

As Naruto appeared directly to the left of where the other traveler had been, he quickly noted that he was surrounded by four shinobi.

A glance over his left shoulder told him that the other traveler had done a back flip as he appeared.

"Look at this. We got two at once." one of the shinobi said. He then looked to Naruto and said, "Hand over all of your possessions, and we might let you leave with your lives."

"What's the word I'm looking for?" Naruto asked thoughtfully as he tapped his chin with his index finger.

The four shinobi tensed at the blond's words.

Before they could react, Naruto slammed his fist into the stomach of the one closest to him. He then spun around and kicked one of the others in the abdomen with his left foot.

Much to the surprise of the remaining two shinobi, Naruto knocked out the two that he had attacked.

"Actions speak louder than words." Naruto commented as he glanced back at the other two.

Moving to attack Naruto together, the two shinobi were caught completely unaware as they were taken out from the side.

Naruto almost did not see the sudden blur as the other traveler rushed the two shinobi and knocked them out.

'The move she used reminds me of what Sakura did in the preliminaries against Ino.' Naruto thought.

It was at that moment that Naruto took in the appearance of the other traveler clearly.

She wore a black kimono top, similar to what Jiraiya had always worn. Instead of pants like Jiraiya wore, she had a white skirt on with thin black stripes going diagonally all around it. Furthermore, she wore a large brown bag, similar to the hip pouch that medical ninja wore, around her waist. Unlike any medical ninja that he had ever seen, she wore hers at her front though. In addition to all that, she had on a pair of ninja sandals that covered half of her shins.

Naruto was not focused on the clothing that she wore though. Her short blue hair, the light blue paper flower in her hair, her gray eyes, and her blue eye shadow were the things that truly had his attention.

There was not a single doubt in his mind at that moment as to the identity of the girl before him. Even if it sounded like an impossible conclusion, he could not find an ounce of doubt in his heart.

"Thanks for helping." She said, looking at Naruto carefully. "I could have handled them myself, but thanks for acting when you did. I would have had to kill them without your assistance."

"As much as I'd like to say that these guys deserve that, I'd be lying if I said that you should have done it." Naruto said, speaking truthfully. "Killing is not a burden that I'd wish upon anyone unless there was no other way."

As he spoke, he remembered the first life he had ever taken. The man's name had been Yura. Though he had been a traitor to the Hidden Sand Village and an Akatsuki spy, Naruto had still taken his death hard.

By comparison, the second and last man that he had killed was not very difficult to come to terms with at all. He had not regretted Kakuzu's death at all, after all.

"You sound like a good person." she said with a small smile. "I've never taken a life, and I really don't want to unless I have to. Thank you for that."

"Don't mention it." Naruto said. Thoughts of how different she was from the one that he knew previously had him caught off guard. The complete lack of recognition in her eyes made it clear to him that she was not just using the Transformation Jutsu to appear young.

'What's going on?' he wondered.

"Who were they? Their stances were definitely that of trained ninja." Naruto asked curiously.

"During the Second Great Shinobi War, quite a few Rain ninja deserted." She replied, making his eyes widen. She did not understand that reaction, but she had no intention of questioning it. "I'd guess that those four were genin. I'm amazed how quickly you took them out though."

Naruto managed a smile at the last part, breaking away from the thoughts of the fact that the girl before him had just implied that the Second Great Shinobi War had taken place a short time ago. "They didn't think I could hit that hard."

Thoughts of him breaking free of Preta Path's grip after it was turned to stone using his raw strength came to mind as he said that.

"I guess they were never taught properly then. My sensei used to always say that we should never underestimate anyone." she said, smiling at the thought of her sensei.

A thought crossed her mind at that point.

"Since you helped me out, how about I help you out? You look lost." That caught his attention. "I live nearby. If you want, you can spend the night there with me and my friends. You look like you have something that you need to do, so we can get you a map tomorrow morning, and you can be on your way."

"Lead the way…." Naruto said, trailing off.

"Oh, that's right… I never introduced myself. I'm Konan. And you are…?"

"My name's Naruto." The blond replied, trying to comprehend what exactly was going on. Hearing her say her name only confirmed his initial suspicions.

Konan's eyes widened slightly at hearing that, but she quickly brought herself under control. 'Could it be a coincidence?'

"That's a cool name." Konan commented. "How do you write it?" The question was largely inspired by the fact that she knew that it could be written in several different ways. If his name was written a specific way, then things would truly be an amazing set of coincidences.

"It's written in katakana." Naruto replied. He was glad that it was written in katakana. As it was, his name had possible meanings, but there was no definite meaning to it. If he had been named 'fishcake', then he would have likely punched his father somewhere other than the stomach when they had come face to face in his mindscape.

'It's written the exact same way.' Konan thought in amazement.

"That's pretty cool." Konan said, clearing her throat. "Are you ready to go? We should probably get out here before they wake up."

"Yeah… let's go." Naruto said

With that, the pair began to move farther down the road.

Naruto could not stop himself from asking one last question before they began their short journey though.

"Out of curiosity, when did the Second Great Shinobi War end? How long ago was it? I'm been traveling for… a long time." Naruto said, finding that his final statement was actually the truth.

Konan looked at him strangely at that point.

"It ended three years ago. This country hasn't fully stabilized since the end of the war though." Konan answered, unsure as to the exact meaning of his words.

'It's true then. I really am in the past. Hell, I shouldn't even be born for another ten years.' Naruto thought.

Thoughts of what he had just learned occupied his mind for the rest of the trip to Konan's place of residence.

* * *

><p><strong>3. The Rain Orphans<strong>

About fifteen minutes later, Konan led Naruto into a large, open field a ways away from the road. In the center of that field was a very small building. It was easy to tell that it was being used as a home, though it could have easily been used as a small shop instead.

The building appeared to have a rounded roof and a small porch at the front of it. The power line that went to the house went right to the right of the aforementioned porch.

None of that really sparked Naruto's interest though. The person standing on the porch, looking towards them, was the thing that most caught his attention.

The person looking towards them was a boy about Naruto's age with short spiky orange hair and blue eyes. He wore a short black kimono top with green trimmings like Konan, black pants, and a black and white obi that he tied in front.

'That must be Yahiko.' Naruto thought, remembering his fight against the Deva Path vividly.

As they got closer, the boy spoke. "Konan, who is he?" Alarm was clear in his voice. The implied question of 'why have you brought him to our hideout?' was clear in his words.

"Yahiko, be nice." Konan said as she rolled her eyes. Yahiko could be so overprotective. "This is a nice boy I met on the road earlier. I was attacked on my way back from my walk when he stepped in. I didn't have to kill any of them because of him."

The last part was clearly added to stop Yahiko in his tracks.

Yahiko seemed to calm down a bit after hearing that, though suspicion was still clear in his eyes. He usually saw himself as Konan and Nagato's big brother, so he had a tendency to try to protect them. Given that he could not protect Nagato's innocence due to the fact that he had taken two lives before they even met, Yahiko was determined to prevent Konan from taking a life. After a year of being on their own, he had to admit that it was not an easy task though.

"Konan, would you go and tell Nagato that we will be having company. He's at the river." Yahiko asked, not keeping his eyes off of Naruto. Knowing Konan as he did, he had no doubt that she would insist that the newcomer eat with them. Given the way that he first met Nagato, Yahiko knew his thoughts to be fact.

"Okay. Play nice." Konan said cheerfully before she headed towards the river that they usually caught fish at.

As soon as she was out of ear shot, Yahiko crossed his arms in front of his chest. "I'm going to speak plainly right now. I don't want you to misunderstand me at all. I'm thankful that you were there to intervene on the behalf of my friend, so don't think I'm being ungrateful… but if you mean any harm to my friends, I will kill you."

The matter-of-fact tone that he spoke in would have unnerved most people, but Naruto did not scare easily. After meeting people like Zabuza Momochi, Orochimaru Kisame Hoshigaki, Itachi Uchiha, Sasori of the Red Sand, Kakuzu, and Pain, Naruto doubted that very many people in the world could scare him.

"If I had wanted to harm her, I would have let her fight the rogue ninja earlier. Once the impact of killing those ninja set in, her guard would have dropped. That would have given me the perfect chance to harm her." Naruto said as he locked eyes with Yahiko. "Do you seriously think I'd go out of my way to help your friend just so I could hurt her later?"

"I'd rather be paranoid than let my friends be hurt." Yahiko stated. "I just wanted to be upfront with you about this. I will not brook any threat to them. To be honest, I don't think you would do something to harm them. Konan is a very good judge of character, after all."

"You're strong." Naruto said suddenly, surprising Yahiko. The sudden change of subject was certainly unexpected. "You're clearly trained in the ninja arts, just like I am. The way you hold yourself… muscles ready to pounce at any second… it makes it clear. Your chakra is also fairly strong."

The only lie that Naruto had told the orange haired boy was that he was strong. While Naruto did not doubt that Yahiko was fairly strong, strength had an entirely different meaning to the blond, who had met more kage level shinobi at the age of sixteen than most did at the age of sixty.

Strong was what Naruto called someone who could put an elite jonin in a coma just by looking him in the eyes.

Strong was what Naruto called someone who could go toe-to-toe with a jinchuriki using a four-tailed chakra cloak.

Strong was what Naruto called someone who had over seven decades of fighting experience and had to be killed five times before he would stay down.

Strong was what Naruto called someone when they were capable of killing Hanzo of the Salamander and Jiraiya, the Toad Sage, in one-on-one fights.

Strong was what Naruto called someone who could obliterate an entire village with a single jutsu.

Strong was what Naruto called someone who could bring the dead back to life.

There was no way that Yahiko could be considered strong in Naruto's eyes. At least, not at that moment.

"I can barely sense your chakra." Yahiko said, frowning. He did not even realize that he had broken Naruto out of his thoughts. "Why is that?"

"My charka's depleted." Naruto replied. The truth of the matter was that that little fact was the reason he accepted the offer to stay with Konan and her friends for the night. A full meal and a good night's rest would restore his chakra a little more than sleeping out in the middle of the forest would.

Yahiko seemed to take a measure of relief from that realization. A shinobi that had almost completely run out of chakra was less of a threat than one that was at full capacity.

It was at that point that Naruto realized that they had not properly introduced themselves yet. Naturally, he decided to go first. "I'm Naruto, by the way."

The orange haired boy looked slightly disturbed by the name, but he did not comment upon it. "I'm Yahiko."

"And your other friend is named Nagato?" Naruto asked.

Yahiko hesitated, but he nodded when he remembered telling Konan to go and get him.

"Come on in." Yahiko said suddenly. "I'm sure Konan and Nagato will be headed up here soon."

With that, Yahiko led Naruto into the small house.

The first thing that Naruto noticed about the house was that it only really consisted of two rooms, one being the bathroom. The main room was divided in half by a curtain that was not drawn at that moment. The first half of the room, which he was in at that moment, was rather simple with three bedrolls lying about in the center. He also noticed that there were three small plaques hanging on the wall to his left. On the wall to his right, one more small plaque was hanging. In addition to that, there was a small fireplace to the left of the plaques on the left wall and a window to the right of the plaque on the right wall.

All four plaques were white with a frog on them.

As soon as they entered the house, Yahiko walked to the plaques at the wall to his left and flipped the plaque in the middle around, revealing a red side to it. He then walked back to Naruto and led him into the second half of the room.

Upon entering the second half of the room, Naruto was able to determine that it was the kitchen. The wall to his left was lined by three sinks, while there were counters and a refrigerator to his right. In the center of that half of the room was a table with four chairs around it.

Naruto and Yahiko sat across from each other instantly. The former had his back to the first half of the room, while the latter had his back to the wall opposite the front door.

"Tell me… Naruto… where are you from?" Yahiko asked, curiosity filling him.

"I was born in the Land of Fire." Naruto answered without hesitation. "I suppose you are from the Land of Rain?"

Yahiko nodded in response to Naruto's question. "What are you doing in the Land of Rain?"

"I suppose I just got lost on the road of life." Naruto replied with a shrug. "I don't remember how I got here. I do know that I had no intention of coming here though. If at all possible, I'd love to avoid the Salamander."

Yahiko could not help but smile at that. It was good to see the boy before him had some sense, at least. The Land of Rain was feared and avoided by many as a result of Hanzo of the Salamander's reputation. The only ones that did not avoid the land were refugees, and they were more concerned about finding a new life than anything else.

The sound of the front door opening had Naruto glancing over his shoulder.

As a red haired boy clad in similar clothing to Yahiko stepped through the front door in front of Konan. His distinctive ripple-patterned eyes left no doubt about his identity.

'So… I really did travel back in time.' Naruto thought. He had been sure of it before, but there had been a hint of doubt until the moment that he saw the Rinnegan again.

Naruto's eyes quickly went to the object that Nagato was holding. It appeared that he had caught a very large fish.

Without saying a word, Konan suddenly took the fish from Nagato's hands and walked towards the fireplace with it.

'I suppose without a stove, you'd have to use a fireplace, especially since it's raining.' Naruto thought.

Seeing that Konan wanted to cook, Nagato entered the second half of the room and took the seat to Yahiko's right and Naruto's left.

"You must be Nagato." Naruto said, earning a single nod from the boy in response. "I'm Naruto."

"I know. Konan told me." Nagato said, looking at the blond carefully. He sounded confused, which served to make Naruto confused. "Most people that meet me are surprised by my eyes. You aren't."

Naruto mentally cursed. He had not reacted appropriately to the boy's dojutsu. The Rinnegan was legendary and distinctive looking. He should have been in awe at the presence of the legendary dojutsu, or he should have been surprised by the strange looking eyes.

Regaining his hold over his emotions, Naruto forced a smile. "It's not as surprising as the Byakugan or the Sharingan… in appearance, anyways. I never thought I'd meet someone with the Rinnegan, though."

'Not only does he recognize that it is the Rinnegan, but he has seen the Byakugan and the Sharingan before… who is this guy?' Yahiko thought.

"You seem to be taking things well." Yahiko said, looking across the table at Naruto. "Shouldn't you be stunned speechless or something? Most people don't believe that the Rinnegan even exists."

"I've seen weirder stuff." Naruto said with a shrug. A man not related to the First Hokage by blood possessing wood style ninjutsu was fairly weird, after all. He did not even want to get into the subject of Sasori or Kakuzu. No one was supposed to get as weird as them. "And the only people who don't believe in the Rinnegan feel the same way about the Sage of Six Paths. I'm not the type to doubt the existence of the man who created ninjutsu."

"You know about the Sage of Six Paths?" Nagato suddenly asked.

"I know a little." Naruto replied. "It's said that he saved the world from a great evil and was given the title of 'the Savior of this World.' For creating the Shinobi Sect, which later became ninjutsu, he was also called 'the God of Shinobi.' That's about all I know about him though. Well, I do know that he brought about a short-lived era of peace and created the moon, but that's about it."

"He created the moon?" Yahiko asked. Skepticism was clear in his voice.

Naruto nodded. He remembered that Pain had said as much during their battle. "It might be a bit exaggerated, but there's no reason to believe that it's false."

Yahiko frowned, but he did not say anything further. He had a feeling that the blond was being completely honest with him.

"Konan said that you're from the Land of Fire." Nagato said suddenly.

Naruto nodded at that question. "I traveled around the elemental nations with my godfather though."

Knowing that Nagato was keeping his eyes on him, Naruto was determined to tell half-truths than blatant lies. The Sharingan and the Byakugan could generally detect if someone was lying. He was unsure if the Rinnegan had that same ability.

"What about your parents?" Nagato asked.

"They died the day I was born. I grew up as an orphan until a few years ago when my godfather took me away from the village." Naruto answered. Sadness filled his tone as he said, "He was killed by a former student a few months ago."

Yahiko and Nagato decided not to ask further about that. They could see that it was a sensitive subject.

"You said you're trained in the ninja arts, right?" Yahiko asked. Seeing him nod in confirmation, the orange haired boy asked, "Who trained you?"

Naruto was unsure how to answer that question at first. He did not want to tell them that he was trained at the Leaf Academy, so he decided to go with a different point of view. After all, he did not really learn much of anything in the Academy. Thus, he was trained by Kakashi and Jiraiya.

"I was trained by two people: my father's student and my godfather." Naruto replied.

"That's pretty neat." Yahiko said. "We were trained by one of the Leaf's Sannin."

Naruto resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Yahiko was clearly boasting.

"It can't have been Tsunade. She'd liquefy your bones with a single punch for being such a braggart." Naruto said, earning a snicker from Konan, who was looking back at them from the fire place. It was clear that she had been told all about Tsunade.

"And it certainly can't have been Orochimaru. He'd be more likely to kill you than train you." Naruto said. His words invoked the memories of Orochimaru's offer to kill the three orphans four years ago. They were unaware that Naruto knew all about it. Of course, they had no idea that Naruto knew quite a bit about them.

"So it must have been Jiraiya." Naruto said.

"Yep, it was." Yahiko said with a grin. "He was awesome."

"He was very strong and dedicated." Nagato said in agreement.

"I hear he's also a pervert." Naruto said with an innocent look on his face.

No one noticed the slight blush on Konan's face at that statement. She could still remember Jiraiya's words that she should come visit him when she turned eighteen. She still was unsure whether he had been serious or not.

"Jiraiya-sensei wasn't a pervert." Yahiko said, his voice not actually indicating disagreement. "He was a super pervert."

That earned a laugh from Nagato and a smile from Naruto.

For the next few hours, Naruto spoke with the three former students of Jiraiya, not even stopping their conversation when the fish was done cook and was ready to eat.

* * *

><p>After their conversation came to a close, Naruto had gone to sleep on a fourth bedroll that they had kept put up originally.<p>

While the blond was sleeping, Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan were sitting at the table with a great deal on their mind.

Something Naruto had told them was still on their mind.

After Yahiko had voiced his goal in life- bring peace to the world, starting with the Land of Rain- Naruto had said, "I would like nothing more than to see the cycle of hatred end. Even if it meant the end of the Age of Shinobi, I believe that it would be worth it."

The fact that Naruto had spoken such words with clear passion had made it clear to them that he was a like-minded individual. That, combined with the way he got along with the three of them, left them with various conflictions.

After a few minutes of silence, Yahiko said, "I still don't trust him one hundred percent, but… I'd be willing to offer him a chance to join us."

That surprised Nagato and Konan, who had seen the distrust that Yahiko seemed to exude towards the blond.

"This is unexpected." Konan commented, looking at her long-time friend. "You're not the type to trust someone that you just met today."

"I can see Jiraiya-sensei in him." Yahiko said simply. 'And I can see myself in him.'

"I can see Jiraiya-sensei's ideals in him too." Nagato suddenly said. "I was actually hoping you'd agree to let him stay with us.

"Then it's settled then." Konan said with a smile. There was just something about the blond that she liked. When he was not trying to act serious, he was pretty fun to be around.

* * *

><p>The following morning, they confronted Naruto with the offer, though the answer was not one that they had expected.<p>

"I can't agree to stay with you guys. I'd like to, but I have to visit an old friend of mine." Naruto said.

Yahiko nodded slightly. He was not particularly happy that the blond would be leaving after he had decided to let him stay with them. He had no intention of trying to stop him though.

The blond's next question caught them all off guard though.

"Is the offer open ended? I might return after I visit my friend." Naruto said. None of them realized that he was making a backup plan by asking that question.

"Yeah, it is." Yahiko said after a glance at his friends. He knew their opinion on the matter.

"Very well then… I hope to see you again when this is all over." Naruto said as he picked the map up off of the table and made his way away from the hideout.

It would be a year before Naruto was reunited with the Rain Orphans.

* * *

><p><strong>4. Return to Mount Myoboku<strong>

"There can be no doubt about it… that's the Distant Body Water." Naruto said as he took a deep breath.

He was standing in a small cave that was completely empty except for a small pool of water. The surface of the pool was about a foot off of the ground with earth raised around it to prevent it from spilling over.

'I'll just barely be able to fit in it.' Naruto thought.

Though the pool was not very deep, Naruto knew that it was not an ordinary pool.

Closing his eyes, Naruto drew upon the natural energy around him.

Thankful that the three days between his departure from the hideout of the Rain Orphans and the present had restored his chakra halfway, Naruto entered Sage Mode. He then proceeded to dive head first into the pool of water before him.

The instant that he submerged himself in the pool of water, he surfaced at another pool of water.

Glancing behind him, Naruto saw that there was a shrine behind the new pool of water.

"Who are you?"

The sudden feminine voice broke Naruto out of his thoughts.

Looking before the pool, Naruto noticed a small toad with purple hair and a black cloak.

'Ma must have been headed to get some supplies.' Naruto thought.

"My name is Naruto. Sorry about my unusual entrance. I never learned the secret way to get here, and I don't seem to be able to summon." Naruto said as he climbed out of the pool, still in Sage Mode.

"I didn't think a human could use the Distant Body Water." the female toad said, surprised that he was able to climb out of it unharmed. "You're a sage. The only way to get around the pool's rejection as a result of you not being a toad must be the natural energy that you are filled with."

"Yeah, that's what Pa told me." Naruto said.

"Did I, now?"

Naruto glanced up and saw Fukasaku walking towards them. He appeared to be tense.

"If you don't remember me, then there really can't be any doubt about it." Naruto said with a sigh. "I know this is going to sound crazy, but from the future."

"I know." Fukasaku said, catching Shima and Naruto both off guard. "The Great Toad Sage just told me that a toad summoner from the future would arrive through the Distant Body Water with the eyes of a sage."

Naruto wanted to laugh at that point, but he could not find it in him to do so. He thought it was strange how the Great Toad Sage could remember a vision long enough to tell Fukasaku about it when he barely remembered Naruto's prophecy.

"The Great Toad Sage suggested that I speak to you thoroughly, so you might want to come with me." Fukasaku said, looking straight at Naruto.

"I'll come." Shima suddenly said.

"Then let's go." Fukasaku said, leading his wife and his student from the future away to a place where they could all talk in depth.

* * *

><p>It did not take long for Naruto to reach the home of the Two Great Sage Toads.<p>

He was unsure what to think as he sat before them in their home. On one hand, he was thrilled to see them. On the other, it was disheartening to see that they did not even know who he was.

Nonetheless, he took a deep breath and spoke before they could say anything. "If you want to know anything about me, I'll need you to tell me something first. If you can answer my questions, I'll tell you everything that you need to know."

"Ask your questions." Fukasaku said, not unkindly.

"What would happen if either one of my parents died before I was born?" Naruto asked.

"Afraid to invalidate your existence, are you?" Fukasaku asked. Seeing the blond nod, he said, "Don't worry. You were already born. You can't be unborn."

"You won't be born into this world unless you die before you were supposed to be conceived." Shima added. "We've been around for eight centuries. Trust us. We know all about things so obscure that you'd think they were impossible."

"What Ma meant by you not being born into this world is simple." Fukasaku said, seeing confusion on Naruto's face. "Your soul can not exist twice at one time. Souls cannot be duplicated or shared in such a way."

Naruto took a deep breath in relief at knowing that he was not suddenly going to cease to exist just because he screwed up the timeline.

"Is there any way to go back to my own time?" Naruto asked next.

"It's possible. You'd be more likely to be struck by lightning a dozen times though." Fukasaku said, surprising the blond. "You see here, boy… time is a constantly shifting thing. The odds of you being able to reach your specific future are too slim. You could very well end up in a world where everyone you ever cared for are dead."

Naruto sighed. He understood what Fukasaku was saying.

"What do you guys want to know?" Naruto asked.

Exchanging looks with his wife, Fukasaku asked, "Who are you?"

Closing his eyes, Naruto answered. "I am the son of the Fourth Hokage and the Second Jinchuriki of the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox… I am the godson of the Toad Sage… I am the former Third Jinchuriki of the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox… I am Naruto Uzumaki."

Though they expected to hear something surprising, Ma and Pa were completely thrown off by Naruto's answer.

"You are Jiraiya-boy's godson?" Fukasaku asked.

"Yeah, his student-my father- used the name of a character in his first book, the Tale of the Gutsy Shinobi." Naruto answered.

"Would your father happen to be Minato Namikaze?" Fukasaku asked, noticing a resemblance.

"You know him?" Naruto asked in surprise.

"When Jiraiya-boy had his favorite new student sign the Toad Contract six months ago, he introduced us to him. The boy is a genius, it would seem." Fukasaku said.

"It makes sense that he would become the Fourth Hokage." Shima added.

"In my time, he was famous for killing entire battalions of Rock ninja in the blink of an eye using something called 'the Flying Thunder God Jutsu.'" Naruto said with a nod. "I've heard that his speed was unparalleled, even without his space-time ninjutsu."

"Jiraiya-boy was no doubt proud of him." Fukasaku said with a smile.

"He was proud of him." Naruto said in agreement. "He told me that he only decided to train me because I had an uncanny resemblance to him. I had no idea that the Fourth was my father at the time."

"Oh?" Shima asked, catching that something strange was going on.

"My parents died on the tenth of October, ten years from now. That was the day I was born… and the day that Madara Uchiha broke the seal that held the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox and attacked the Hidden Leaf Village."

That had the two toads surprised even more than his earlier words. They had been old already when Madara Uchiha had been born, so they no doubt knew how powerful he had been.

"He isn't dead?" Shima asked in amazement.

"No, he isn't. He was weakened by his fight with the First Hokage though." Naruto replied. "I don't know exactly what he wanted with them, but in my time, Madara was capturing the tailed beasts and sealing them away. He had seven of them when the Fourth Great Shinobi War began." A hint of bitterness entered his tone at the last words.

"There was a Third Great Shinobi War then?" Fukasaku asked.

Naruto nodded. "It began eight years before I was born and ended the year before I was born."

"Two years." Fukasaku said. "It's a true tragedy that war is on the horizon again when twenty years of peace passed between the First Great Shinobi War and the Second Great Shinobi War."

"The Fourth Great Shinobi War began when I was sixteen." Naruto said. "So we had seventeen years of peace… for the most part." He remembered mentions of a small war between Leaf and Cloud, the Uchiha Massacre, the joint Sand and Sound attack on the Leaf, and Pain's attack on the Leaf at that point.

"Tell us everything that you know. If we know all about your future, then we may be able to help you change it."

And so, Naruto Uzumaki began to tell the story of everything that happened between Sasori's abduction of the Third Kazekage to the manner in which he was sent back in time.

It was only after he finished the story that he was asked about Jiraiya's first students, who they were not even aware of.

Once that story was done, Fukasaku said, "So… Jiraiya-boy trained a young boy that bears the Rinnegan?"

"Yes… he was one of the Children of Prophecy." Naruto said.

"You didn't tell us that you knew about that." Fukasaku said, surprised by the mention of the prophecy.

"It didn't come up in the story." Naruto said. He had edited out minor details since it would have been a hassle to explain everything in detail.

"You said that he was one of the children. I thought that there was only one 'Child of the Prophecy.'" Shima commented.

"You thought that in my time too. You guys told me that I Nagato and I were the Children of the Prophecy though." Naruto said.

"Was there anything else we told you that might be important?" Fukasaku asked.

With a smile, Naruto looked at Shima. "You called me 'the Savior of this World' when I was fighting Pain."

That truly threw them off as well. Shima was not the type to say something like that unless she truly meant it. After all, the Sage of Six Paths had been known as the Savior of this World.

"What do you plan to do?" Fukasaku asked after a few minutes of silence.

Naruto took on a look of deep concentration at that point.

After a few moments, he said, "Well, I was hoping I could stay here for a while so that I can train in peace. I lost a good bit of strength when I was sent back."

Fukasaku nodded in understanding. "What do you plan after that?"

"I thought about going to the Hidden Leaf Village, but there's no way that I can do that. They'd ask about my past, and if I told them the truth, I'd probably be committed to the mental ward." Naruto said with a sigh. "I guess the only other option is to accept Yahiko's offer to join up with his group."

"Oh?" Shima asked.

"I guess I forgot to mention that. I already met up with Yahiko, Konan, and Nagato. I ran into them by chance. They invited me to spend the night after I helped Konan out, and the next morning, they invited me to join their little group."

"I believe that it would be wise to accept their offer… after your training is over." Fukasaku said, surprising Naruto. "If you and this… Nagato… were to join forces, you may stand a chance at defeating Madara and bringing an end to the cycle of hatred. You are the Children of the Prophecy, after all."

Shima nodded in agreement.

"I'll do that then." Naruto said. He could not doubt the wisdom of one of the Two Great Toad Sages.

"That's good to hear, Naruto-boy." Fukasaku said. "I don't see a problem with you staying here to train either. In fact, I'd be willing to help you with your training."

"I'd be honored." Naruto said without hesitation. He knew that Fukasaku was skilled in the ninja arts, so the offer was a good one.

"That's good to hear. I'll show you to where you will be staying." Fukasaku said.

"In that case, I'll go and get some supplies." Shima said as she took her leave.

As soon as Shima was out of the door, Naruto groaned.

"What's wrong, Naruto-boy?" Fukasaku asked curiously.

"Worm soup…." Naruto said, trailing off as he shivered.

Fukasaku simply laughed in response.

* * *

><p><strong>5. Limits<strong>

Naruto walked into the front room of Fukasaku's house the next day.

He no longer wore the clothes that Jiraiya had given him during his training trip. They had been put up in order to prevent him from standing out. Orange clothing that bore the insignia of the Uzumaki clan would have made him stand out like a Hyuga amongst the Uchiha clan.

Instead of those clothes, Naruto wore a black kimono top, a pair of black pants, a black obi tied in the front, and a pair of black sandals. His shuriken holster was still tied around his right leg and his hip pouch was still hung at the back of his hip to his left.

"It looks like it was a good idea to have so many sets of clothes made for Jiraiya-boy. He never even used most of them. It looks like they'll suit you just fine." Fukasaku said as he saw his newest student.

"They're comfortable." Naruto admitted. It was at that point that he noticed something unusual on the ground next to Fukasaku. It was a large scroll that he had only ever seen once before. "Is that the Toad Contract?"

Glancing at it, Fukasaku nodded. "Even if I did not believe that you needed the ability to summon, I'd still let you sign it. It wouldn't be right if a true sage was unable to summon toads."

"Thank you." Naruto said as he bit his thumb.

Fukasaku quickly unrolled the scroll, allowing Naruto to see the first empty space.

'This is exactly where I signed it last time.' Naruto thought.

Before he signed his name, a question formed in his mind.

"Do I have to sign with my clan name?" Naruto asked.

"Why do you ask?" Fukasaku asked, more curious about Naruto's reasoning than his question.

"Well… I don't really want anyone to know that I'm an Uzumaki. If one of the other summoners sees the contract, they'll know." Naruto explained.

"It is not the name that is written that matters." Fukasaku said after a few moments. "You could sign my name and still become a summoner. The important thing is the blood that you sign with. So if you want, you can just sign with 'Naruto.'"

"Thanks." Naruto said as he quickly wrote his name. He then left his fingerprints underneath his name as he did once before.

As soon as Naruto removed his hand from the scroll, Fukasaku rolled the scroll up.

"Now, I need to test you, Naruto-boy." Fukasaku said. "If I'm to train you, I must know what level your abilities are at. Has your chakra restored in full force yet?"

"Yeah, those food pills you gave me last night did the trick." Naruto said.

"That's good." Fukasaku said.

'I'd hate to imagine how much chakra Naruto-boy had when he was still a jinchuriki. He has more chakra than even Jiraiya-boy's sensei.'

"Come with me then." Fukasaku said as he led Naruto out of the house and away from the homes of the many toads that live on the mountain.

* * *

><p>Fukasaku stopped walking as they reached a clearing surrounded by the many spike-shaped rock formations that Naruto had used to learn to stay perfectly still.<p>

'This place is a little different though.' Naruto thought.

"This is a place that served a very specific function back in the day. It was used as a training area for sages to spar." Fukasaku said. "It's been many years since two humans capable of Sage Mode have existed at the same time though. Thus, this area has fallen into disuse."

"Does this mean I'm going to fight against Pervy Sage?" Naruto asked, not realizing that he had used his nickname for his sensei.

Fukasaku smiled at the name and said, "No, I have informed all of the toads that there is another summoner, but they were also told that Jiraiya-boy is to remain unaware of your existence. I don't want him to learn too much too soon."

Naruto was relieved to hear that. He was not yet ready to meet his old sensei again.

"Instead, I want you to test you in taijutsu and ninjutsu." Fukasaku explained. "But first, I need to know some specific things. I don't intend on actually testing your capabilities with chakra control, genjutsu, or senjutsu. Instead, I'll take you at your word on those. So, how are you in those areas?"

Naruto nervously chuckled at that point. "My chakra control isn't very good. I can climb trees and walk on water. I can also use shape manipulation and nature manipulation, but I still can't use the Clone Jutsu. I actually tried it a day or two ago." It was clear that Fukasaku was unimpressed by that. "And I'm not very good at genjutsu either. I can dispel B-rank and below genjutsu though." Fukasaku had a neutral expression at those words. "And I mastered senjutsu. You called me 'a true sage' in my time. I can stay in Sage Mode for five minutes without the aid of shadow clones, and you taught me how to use the Frog Kumite fighting style."

The last bit of information actually did impress Fukasaku, and it was clear by the look on his face.

'Jiraiya-boy was never able to learn the Frog Kumite style because of his inability to properly balance his chakra with natural energy. I have no doubts that he is a force to be reckoned with… at least when he uses Sage Mode.'

"Let's begin then." Fukasaku said as he suddenly jumped away from Naruto. "I will hold back on my senjutsu, so I won't hurt you too badly on accident."

Naruto was a bit relieved by that. He could tell that Fukasaku would be too difficult to face if he used Frog Kumite on him.

Dashing towards Fukasaku with all of his speed, Naruto began to throw a barrage of punches and kicks at the elder toad.

Despite the blond's speed, Fukasaku was easily able to evade most of the attacks. Those that he was unable to dodge, he was able to redirect using his hands.

After a brief taijutsu engagement, Fukasaku hit Naruto in the chest with one of his hands, sending the blond flying a dozen feet away.

'Damn it… I didn't think about the fact that he's still using Sage Mode.' Naruto thought as he did a back flip and landed on his feet. Engaging Fukasaku in taijutsu was more futile than trying to fight Kakashi with only taijutsu.

Forming his signature hand sign, Naruto said, "Shadow Clone Jutsu"

Instead of the hundreds of clones that Naruto used in the past, he only created nine.

In an instant, all nine clones and the original Naruto attempted to attack Fukasaku using taijutsu again.

"That won't work, Naruto-boy." Fukasaku said as he formed a quick hand sign. 'Sage Art: Wind Style Stream'

Naruto was suddenly hit by an incredibly powerful stream of wind that dispelled all of his clones upon impact.

It also sent him flying backwards once again.

'How in the hell am I supposed to do this? He has way too much experience at this.' Naruto thought. He quickly formed another shadow clone and had it prepare a Rasengan.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu" the clone said once the Rasengan was formed in the original's right hand.

In an instant, twenty-five shadow clones appeared, and they all charged Fukasaku.

Using his clones as a distraction, Naruto used the body flicker technique to appear behind Fukasaku.

A sudden blast of wind hit Naruto as he reappeared behind the elder toad. He was sent flying backwards into one of the stone formations just in time to see his shadow clones dispatched.

'How much have I relied on the Nine-Tails and Sage Mode?' Naruto thought as he slid to the ground.

"This testing is clearly over with." Fukasaku said, looking towards Naruto. "You don't know any long range ninjutsu, do you?"

"Only the Rasenshuriken, but I can't use it outside of Sage Mode without hurting myself." Naruto confessed. "It's not a jutsu to be used on anyone that I don't want to kill anyways."

"What is the Rasenshuriken?" Fukasaku asked, interest suddenly piqued.

"It's an S-rank wind ninjutsu that is capable of cutting someone at a molecular level. My sensei had the Sharingan, and he couldn't even count the number of times it cut the first person I used it on." Naruto said as he took a deep breath.

"You are in a rather strange situation, Naruto-boy." Fukasaku said after a few moments of though. "The way that you fought suggests that you have a very limited arsenal of ninjutsu, despite the fact that you have such a massive amount of chakra. Your taijutsu seems to be your best area, but the fact that you only utilize such a standard style makes it incredibly easy to read. As you said, your genjutsu and chakra control leave much to be desired as well. All in all, I'd rate you as being mid-chunin level, though a single push would bring you up to high-chunin level."

"If I'm so weak, then how did I beat Pain?" Naruto asked. He was not angry by the assessment. He was honestly confused though.

"You've mastered Sage Mode. From what you've told me, your abilities increase drastically once you enter Sage Mode. This is actually not a big surprise though. Jiraiya-boy is only capable of using an imperfect form of Sage Mode, and it increases his abilities ten-fold. If he mastered it to the extent that you have, he would possibly be the strongest shinobi alive."

The unspoken 'but he lacks the potential to master it' was clear.

"So, I'm mid-chunin level normally, but I'm high-jonin level with Sage Mode?" Naruto asked.

'High-jonin level… that's a conservative guess.' Fukasaku thought. He did not dare say those words though. "That's what it looks like."

Naruto nodded and took a deep breath. "In that case… I suppose I'll have to just get stronger."

Fukasaku nodded. 'He has spirit.'

"When can we begin the training?" Naruto asked.

The smile that appeared on the elder toad's face made shivers run up and down his back.

"The only form of taijutsu that I know that is suitable for humans is Frog Kumite, and it's obviously only useable in Sage Mode. Thus, I'll let you work on how to integrate the forms for it into a normal taijutsu style on your own. Your biggest deficiencies should be the first things we should work on, anyways." Fukasaku said.

"Chakra control?" Naruto asked, actually sounding hopeful.

"Tell me something, Naruto-boy. Have you ever heard a toad sing?" Fukasaku asked.

"I can't say that I have." Naruto answered.

That was the day that Naruto learned all about the special genjutsu that only toads were capable of making the necessary noises to utilize.

He had no idea how lucky he was that Fukasaku was performing the genjutsu solo, though. It was far more potent with Shima's aid.

* * *

><p><strong>6. Destiny<strong>

_-January 1, approximately 2 years before the start of the Third Great Shinobi War_

"Are we doing genjutsu training again?" Naruto asked the day after he had been tested by Fukasaku.

Looking up from where he had been sitting in the front room, Fukasaku shook his head.

"Naruto-boy, I believe that you've gotten good enough at dispelling genjutsu for now. No… I have new training planned." Fukasaku explained.

"What kind of new training?" Naruto asked. His interest was piqued. It sounded like Fukasaku was going to teach him ninjutsu, which would have helped him a great deal.

"I will teach you fuinjutsu." Fukasaku said, earning a very surprised look from Naruto.

"But how is that going to help me? All it can do is seal things, after all." Naruto asked. It simply did not make any sense to him.

"With fuinjutsu, you can seal away your enemy's ninjutsu, you can create barriers capable of containing or protecting, you can seal away your enemy's chakra… and that's not even the half of it." Fukasaku said as he rose to his feet. "Don't forget that the only way to defeat a tailed beast is by sealing it away. If you are ever forced to face one, would you really want to do it without fuinjutsu?"

"Okay… I'll do it." Naruto said, seeing all of the toad's points. "When I went on a training trip with… Jiraiya-sensei… he taught me the basics of fuinjutsu."

Fukasaku nodded in understanding. He then removed a blank scroll from the table next to him and handed it to Naruto. "I'm going to have to test you to see what you know then."

It did not take long at all for Fukasaku to test his newest student.

"I believe it's safe to say that Jiraiya-boy actually did teach you the basics. You have them down, though it seems that you can only create standardized seals." Fukasaku said once the testing was done.

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked, completely confused by the toad's words.

"You understand the basics of how fuinjutsu works, but the only seals that you can create are memorized copies of seals that other people made." Fukasaku explained.

"Isn't that how seals are made?" Naruto asked. He still could not understand what the toad meant.

Fukasaku sighed at that point. "The basic seals for storage scrolls, paper bombs, and seal tags have all been passed down since the Shinobi Clan Wars. The secrets of fuinjutsu have been passed down just as long." he said. "A master of fuinjutsu does not use the basic seals that have been passed down though. They learn to make their own using their own designs. Much as there are several ways to write your name, there are many ways to write a specific kind of seal. Before I teach you the ways, I'll need to teach you seal theory."

"That doesn't sound fun." Naruto commented.

"It won't be." Fukasaku promised as he pointed in the kitchen at a massive tome. "That book contains every bit of seal theory that I know. I wrote it myself. Once you read it, I will teach you how to apply seal theory in practice. I'll stick around while you read it, so I can answer any questions that you have."

Naruto paled at the sight of the book. "How long will it take me to read that?"

"You need to learn everything inside of it. I doubt you'll be able to read and comprehend it in less than six months." Fukasaku replied.

Taking a deep breath, Naruto said, "I guess I better get to work then."

* * *

><p><em>-February 28, approximately 21 months before the start of the Third Great Shinobi War<em>

Though Fukasaku had said that he did not believe that Naruto would be able to read and comprehend the book on seal theory in less than six months, Naruto had managed it in three months. That had been his sole focus of fuinjutsu.

Apparently, fuinjutsu really did run in Naruto's blood. Who would have thought that the son of two seal masters and the godson of another seal master would be able to become fairly competent in fuinjutsu so quickly?

'I suppose I'll actually be able to call myself an Uzumaki eventually.' Naruto thought. He knew that the Uzumaki clan had fallen within the past decade, so everyone would expect him to be a seal master if he called himself an Uzumaki.

'Tomorrow morning, I get to start the real fuinjutsu training.' Naruto thought as he stepped in the center of the area where he had been tested by Fukasaku at the start of his training.

He brought his hands together in his signature hand sign and uttered the three words that he spoke most. "Shadow Clone Jutsu"

In an instant, a perfect copy of him formed right before his eyes.

Without saying a word, the shadow clone dropped into Naruto's typical taijutsu stance.

Nodding, Naruto dropped into a slightly less rigid stance.

'It's time to see how this'll work.' he thought.

Starting from that point on, Naruto would spend his days training in fuinjutsu with Fukasaku and his night training with his taijutsu style against shadow clones.

Given the fact that the shadow clones knew his style as well as he did, it always made the spars more challenging.

* * *

><p><em>-May 31, approximately 18 months before the start of the Third Great Shinobi War<em>

"I'm ready." Naruto said as he entered the front room. He quickly noticed that Fukasaku appeared to be more serious than normal at that moment. "What's wrong?"

"There's nothing wrong, Naruto-boy." Fukasaku reassured him as he rose to his feet. "You're fuinjutsu training is complete though. I'm not as skilled as Jiraiya-boy or the Third Hokage in fuinjutsu, but I'm pretty good at it. With a little experience, you'll surpass even me though. I don't believe there is anything more that I can teach you. Regardless, the Great Toad Sage asked to see you. He is ready to tell your future."

Naruto was unsure what caught him off guard more… the praise regarding his fuinjutsu skills or that his future would be told again.

"I'm ready." Naruto said after a few moments.

"That's good to hear." Fukasaku replied. "Follow me."

'What will I teach Naruto-boy next?' he thought idly as he led Naruto to the chambers of the Great Toad Sage. 'Naruto-boy's fuinjutsu training is complete, his taijutsu training is going fairly well, and he does not really need any more genjutsu training.'

Before Fukasaku realized it, he was standing before the Great Toad Sage with Naruto behind him. Seeing where he was, he said, "Great Toad Sage, I have brought Naruto Uzumaki before you." Fukasaku said. His tone was a bit louder than normal, but the millennia old toad was hard of hearing.

"Who?" the Great Toad Sage asked, peering down at them.

"Naruto Uzumaki! He is the one you wanted to see!" Fukasaku yelled, though not unkindly.

"Ah yes… Naruto Uzumaki… I have seen his future in more ways than one." the Great Toad Sage said, looking intently at the time traveler before him.

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked, catching the ancient toad's words carefully.

"I have seen the future you came from, along with the future that you will come to." the Great Toad Sage replied. "In your time, you were the Child of the Prophecy, the one destined to bring an end to the cycle of hatred and bring about an age of peace. That is no longer your destiny though."

That truly threw Naruto off guard. 'That's not my destiny anymore?'

"In your new future, I see you standing alongside a boy with powerful eyes, a girl made of paper, and a boy of stronger convictions than I have ever seen before. You four are Daybreak, the key players that will bring about great change in the world. Strangely enough, you are not one of the ones that will actually bring the change to the world. Everything depends on the others, though they will fail without your help. I have also seen that your group will defeat a lizard, a snake, a monkey, and horse with the head of a dolphin, among many others. Take care in your efforts, young Naruto. The fate of the Child of the Prophecy, and by extension the world, rests upon your shoulders." the Great Toad Sage prophesized.

"I will do my best." Naruto promised.

"I will aid him as best as I can." Fukasaku added.

"I wish you the best of luck." the Great Toad Sage said with a smile. "Who are you again?"

Naruto rolled his eyes and walked out of the Great Toad Sage's chambers at that point with Fukasaku following him.

'I guess everything really has changed.' Naruto thought as he made his way to his normal training area again.

"Where are we going?" Fukasaku asked after a few minutes.

"I can't make that big of a difference unless I fix my weaknesses." Naruto answered simply as he continued on his way.

"I'll leave you to your training then. When you are ready for some additional training, find me. I do have a few things that I can still teach you." Fukasaku said. He could see that Naruto felt that his personal training was absolutely vital.

"I'll hold you to that."

* * *

><p><em>-December 30, approximately 1 year before the start of the Third Great Shinobi War<em>

"Are you sure that you have to go already?" Shima asked as she stood before the Distance Body Water pool with Fukasaku and Naruto.

"I'm sure." Naruto answered without hesitation. "The Great Toad Sage's prophecy… I think I understand some of it."

"It could just be some of that old geezer's delusional rambling." Shima said, scowling at the excuse.

"Now, now Ma… there's no reason to get disrespectful." Fukasaku said, shaking his head. "Naruto-boy is right though. I believe that he can do as he is intended to do now."

"Thank you." Naruto said with a sincere smile. "If I may ask… where would you rank me now?"

Fukasaku smiled at the question. It was to be expected that a student would ask his master such a question. "I believe that you are nearly strong enough to be qualified as a jonin of one of the Five Great Nations. You just need a bit of versatility before you are there. Given that you have mastered shape manipulation and wind style nature manipulation, you are ready to begin to create your own jutsu as well."

"I couldn't have done it without you." Naruto said as he felt a pull on his very being. "It looks like my time here is up."

"Before you go, I ask that you remember one thing, Naruto-boy." Fukasaku said, turning very serious once again. "That jutsu of yours… the Rasenshuriken…."

"I will never teach it to anyone, and I will never use it outside of Sage Mode." Naruto said, realizing where his teacher was going with that.

"That's good." Fukasaku said, remembering the damage that the S-ranked jutsu had done when Naruto had demonstrated it for him. "I wish you the best of luck."

"Thank you for everything." Naruto said before he disappeared.

At the border of the Land of Rain, Naruto reappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"You can go back now. I've got it from here." Naruto said, looking at the toad that had just reverse summoned him.

With that, Naruto began to walk towards the direction of Yahiko's hideout.


End file.
